Wouldn't a variety of stores be nice!!

[Harleygirl]

I have lived in BA for a few months every year since 2004 and am really sick of the same ol' stores. Walk into any "shopping" and each one is a duplicate of the next. This happened in the U.S. too in the major shopping centers (J.Crew, Banana Republic, GAP, Macy's, etc.) but we have the huge discount stores as well: Outlet centers, Target, Marshall's, Ross, T.J. Maxx, Wal-mart) Every Wal-mart I have been to here has very little stock merchandise and the plastic/rubber smell in the stores is overwhelming.

Maybe if other stores would open here, it would create some competition and keep prices from going up so fast. Customer service is abysmal as well. I bought a pair of nice shoes in November last year and recently broke the heel on one. I took it back to the store to be fixed (assuming that I might have to pay a nominal fee) and they informed me that they couldn't do anything because the shoe was "out of season." Huh???? What does the season have to do with anything when ALL the shoes currently in the store use the same heel??? I eventually took it to a Zapateria and got it fixed for 10 pesos.

Not important,,,just ranting a little.

 

[Maikito]

HA!!!! that would be a miracle. I love Marshall's, Target etc. I went to Orlando for vacation and bought footwear and clothes that would cost me more than triple the amount here. Wal-mart here is not too cheap, but oh well. If they do ever have a discount store, the discounts would not be significant or the clothes would certainly have a reason to be cheap.

 

[sergio]

This is not a very business friendly as Fedec points out in another thread here. Not easy to set up discount stores with so many high taxes and bureaucracy.

 

[KatharineAnn]

The sad truth about Buenos Aires, that I believe firmly - there is no such thing as a ¨good deal¨ in Buenos Aires. It´s either quality, and darn expensive, or cheap, and will not last you more than 2 months. That´s life - use trips back to the US to your advantage

 

[RWS]

. . . . It´s either quality, and darn expensive, or cheap . . . .

Well, that has a quality, too: poor quality.

 

[tangojohn]

I truely love business. I am interested in all kinds of business and when in foreign countries I visit grocery stores and other types of stores. My last trip to BA I made a pilmgrimage out to the Walmart just to compare it to what we have in the states. I would not bother going back and I was a bit disappointed.

I know here in the states we have had huge growth in Dollar Tree, 99cent store, Big Lots, Family Dollar and General Dollar along with more and more of the Walmart supercenters. I am as guilty as anyone of buying so much of their junk. Since I have never lived outside of the U.S. I wonder if my buying habits will change living in Buenos Aires. I guess with limited availability I will be forced to. I know I don't hesitate to discard something now and I don't hesitate to buy anything that I have a whim for.

 

[Harleygirl]

Hey Tangojohn, I can see you hanging out in the San Telmo district looking for some good buys!!!

 

[HotYogaTeacher]

Fascinating! I hate the clothes here. I hate the furniture here. I was an avid consumer when in the states but live with very little (that I didn't already have) since coming here. I already own an entire Armoire of shoes so I don't NEED any more and don't see any I would pay these exorbitant prices for. The quality is poor, the styles not to my liking, the prices extreme and the service horrible.

The upside is that my consumerism has shifted completely. I have friends bring me things I feel I NEED from home and I make do with the things I can find if I have to buy something here. We bought the "best" quality washer and dryer available in Argentina and the dryer has worked about 7 days out of the last 3 months. Service calls either happen or they don't. When the guys show up they are super nice and helpful and get the stupid thing working again, for a day or so...

It has been a lesson to me for certain. Having traveled mostly in Western Europe I just assumed that most people lived much as I did, or could if they had enough money. Here, if you have all the money in the world you still can't have the very best quality. I have learned so much from living here and that is, after all, why I came...